Abstract
Micaceous minerals are commonly found in phosphate ores, representing a challenge to selectively recover apatite. Aiming at identifying new flotation reagents for the separation of apatite from micaceous minerals, this study investigates the floatability of apatite, biotite and phlogopite in the presence of patauá oil-based collector. The chemical and mineralogical composition, electrokinetic properties and floatability of apatite, biotite and phlogopite in the presence of patauá fatty acid salts, as well as the reagent synthesis and adsorption mechanism were investigated in this work. The collector was successfully synthesized and showed a 90% selectivity gap between apatite and micaceous minerals in microflotation tests, at neutral and alkaline pH. The formation of calcium dicarboxylate was indicated to be the collector adsorption mechanism for apatite, whereas a less significant interaction with interlayer cations exposed during comminution was pointed as the adsorption mechanism for biotite and phlogopite.
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